


Paging Dr. Freud

by Luciaphile



Category: Dark Shadows (1966)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 19:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2553629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luciaphile/pseuds/Luciaphile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Barnabas ridicules the notion that people think they're involved, Julia draws on her professional knowledge and takes control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paging Dr. Freud

* * *  
 _ **1967**_  
* * *

“Dr. Woodard is even more a fool than I thought. To think that we could be involved, well it’s absurd.”

Julia watched his face twist into an ugly sneer and felt painfully embarrassed at her reaction. What was she thinking? To him she was just the frumpy old lady doctor. The words “I don’t think it’s so absurd” floated unspoken on her lips. Without warning she snapped, “I beg your pardon.”

Barnabas turned around. “What?”

“I mean,” she started slowly. “That I don’t think it was an illogical supposition on Dave’s part. He’s probably not the only person who’s reached that conclusion,” Julia said dryly.

“What do you mean?”

Damn it, she was right. “I mean that I’ve been here morning, noon and night for weeks and people being what they are, have most likely assumed that it’s not historical research we’re conducting.” Julia suddenly remembered the way Roger had looked at her when she said she was going to the Old House to work on her book. The whole town probably thought she was sleeping with Barnabas. 

Barnabas laughed nastily. “Oh, come, Doctor, you’re being foolish. How could anyone think I could be interested in you?”

Julia threw him a dagger filled glance. She rummaged in her handbag for a cigarette. “Thank you very much,” she said sarcastically. “So nice to see your 18th-century take on gallantry.”

His face flushed slightly.

‘A hit, a very palpable hit’, Julia thought with some satisfaction. She continued, “My point is that your personal tastes aside, we’re not an unlikely pairing in the eyes of the gossips.” She couldn’t resist getting in a little dig. “A much more likely couple in fact than you and Vicki given our ages.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t appear to be young enough to be your daughter.”

“You go too far, Dr. Hoffman.” He lunged for her neck again.

She was too quick for him and sidestepped him. “I would think twice about that, Barnabas. If anything happens to me, you will be exposed.”

He sneered again. “You’re going to tell me that nonsense again about the letter in a devoted friend’s possession. I didn’t believe you before and I don’t believe you now.”

“That’s your call,” Julia said, shrugging. “I thought it advisable to actually write the letter after you called my bluff and planned on killing Maggie. Go ahead.”

Barnabas looked at her carefully, indecision plainly written all over his face.

He was no doubt thinking that she didn’t look like she was bluffing this time. Perhaps he was wondering if she actually had written a letter? He wouldn’t take that risk. When he dropped his hands, Julia was not surprised. Julia asked him thoughtfully, “What was your mother like?”

“My moth . . .What does my mother have to do with any of this?”

On secure ground now, Julia said knowingly, “Probably quite a lot. You have a definite problem with strong intelligent women. There must be some basis for that.”

“I assure you, Dr. Hoffman, my mother was nothing like you.” He went on pointedly, “She possessed all the feminine graces.”

Julia inwardly flinched at the implication that she did not. “That does not necessarily preclude strength. Perhaps you resented the way she treated your father or the way she ran the household.”

Now thoroughly enraged, he said, “If anything I resented the way my father treated her! He was an emotionless, indomitable man, who ruled his household with a fist of iron. As for our household, Aunt Abigail made most of the decisions. My mother had nothing to do but sink further into her al . . .”

Julia pounced on this. “Her what? Did she drink?”

“Never mind. This is none of your concern, doctor.”

She tilted her chin. “Perhaps not, but it is fascinating. Interesting how you are taking after your father.”

“WHAT?”

“Well, this business with Maggie, for instance. You took a young, attractive girl and put her in a gilded cage, wiping all trace of her personality away and keeping rigid control over her. The analogy is quite clear. It didn’t work with her, so now you are searching for a more pliable partner. And Vicki fits the bill.” Julia got up.

“Where are you going?”

“To the lab.”

* * *

Barnabas sat fuming in the drawing room for several minutes. How dare she? Finally he could stand it no longer and followed her.

“I am not one of your patients, Dr. Hoffman.”

Julia flicked her fingernail against some tubing. “I thought you said ‘we were nothing more than doctor and patient.’ Surely, you don’t mean to imply you are a doctor.”

“What I mean is that I do not need your psychiatry. I do not need to be analyzed.”

Julia burst out laughing. “Please. Barnabas if anyone needs psychiatric help, it’s you.” She pointed to the throbbing vein on his forehead. “It’s a good thing you aren’t mortal. You’re a perfect candidate for a stroke, right now. Fine, you don’t want to talk about your mental problems, we won’t talk about them.”

He was not going to respond to that blatant attempt to goad him. Elaborately casual, he dropped some dry ice into the bubbling cauldron.

Without a word, Julia reached out and smacked him lightly on the arm. “Excuse me. I’m the one with the MD here. Do _not_ touch the lab equipment without my say-so, unless you want to risk jeopardizing the experiment.” She stopped herself, “Perhaps you do.”

“Now you really are being absurd.”

“I think I’m onto something. You like being in control. No, you _need_ to be in control. If you are human, you won’t be able to force Vicki or anyone else into the role of Josette.”

“Do you think I like living this way?”

“No,” Julia agreed thoughtfully. “But I think you feel secure as a vampire. Perhaps subconsciously you are afraid of what life will be like for you as a human. Why do you need to be in control? Is it your father? Your Aunt Abigail? Or tell me, was there another woman before Josette?” 

He turned his back to her. 

“Yes, that’s it, isn’t it? Who was she? What was she like?”

Barnabas kept silent for a moment before looking at her again. “I will not be analyzed. You will work on this experiment, one which I wish to succeed, I assure you. You will keep your nose out of my private affairs. I have plans for Vicki, which you will be no part of.”

Julia snickered.

“What was that?”

“You said you didn’t want me to talk about your personal life.”

“I insist on knowing what that rather rude noise was in reference to!”

“Merely a comment on your taste in women.” She smirked at his puzzled face. “She’s a nice girl, lovely, unspoiled, naïve—and just as mentally troubled as you are.”

Barnabas felt his hands twitching. He was sorely tempted to strangle her here and now—to hell with the letter. “I am not insane.”

“I am trained to recognize signs of instability.”

“Victoria Winters is not mentally troubled.”

“No? First of all, she’s clearly looking for Daddy or she wouldn’t be so drawn to you or involved with Burke—something to do with her upbringing in the orphanage probably. But that’s nothing. Have you noticed how insistently oblivious she is? That’s a defense mechanism. She also seems to like the idea of submerging her personality, either as Mrs. Burke Devlin or as Josette. If she does marry Burke on those terms, Vicki is not going to be happy for long. As for your idea of turning into Josette well, that’s far from healthy. She’s in some sort of deep denial. When she does surface from that, and she will . . . well, let’s just say it won’t be too pretty.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“I run a psychiatric hospital, Barnabas,” Julia reminded him. “I’ve come across cases like hers and yours for that matter. It’s not enough to have a healthy body if you don’t have a healthy mind.” She cleared up her work. “Well, that’s it for me tonight.”

“You’re not leaving?”

Julia arched her eyebrows. “Your hour is up. I’m done for now. It’s late. I’m tired. Unlike you, I do need to sleep.” She took off her lab coat and got into her suit jacket. She made for the stairs, leaving Barnabas dumbfounded. She paused on the stairs and said very neutrally, “If you like, we can continue the session tomorrow night.” She waited for a response. Receiving none, Julia said, “Good night Barnabas.”

He sat in the makeshift lab for some time after her departure, thinking of his parents, of Sarah, of Angelique and of Josette. After awhile his anger toward Dr. Hoffman cooled. She had come uncomfortably close to the truth about several things. Perhaps he would take advantage of her offer to talk. Surely, there could be no harm in that.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Another story I posted somewhere in slightly different form about ten years ago.


End file.
